Tees, jeans, plain sweaters, staple jackets… all things we wear fairly often (because it’s comfy as hell) and act as a blank canvas before adding more “fun” pieces to our outfits.

Here’s a few things we noticed when looking at the basics we already own:

1. We tossed so many CHEAP ASS tees. Just adding to the landfills with stupid, easy purchases we once made. 🙁 Cynthia tossed one tee that was only 4 months old but already looked like it had went through the ringer. Just a plain white one she wore often.

2. The tees we spent a little more on, like $25-$35 vs. $10-$15, were the ones we kept around. These tees still looked quality even if we had had them for years. A little bit more often goes a long way.

3. We also tossed so many CHEAP ASS jeans. One pair I bought 2 months ago was already fading after a few washes, seams were fraying it, and the original shape it had once given me was lost. And y’all, I’m OCD about my clothing care regimen… you’ll never see me accidentally throw in a red sock into a pile of whites or see me hang something that should be folded. I don’t mess around. 😛

4. We had jeans that were years old (some even 8 years old!!) that were still totally wearable and CUTE. Quality was still in tact. These jeans were the ones we had invested more in. Shocker!

We kept all this in mind while on the hunt for a few new basics. We were like, “okay.. one tee, one pair of jeans! That’s it!” Bootstrapping your own business means rarely having money left over to spend on yourself. Won’t lie, it SUCKS. We shop more consciously though. So for these pieces, we decided to go somewhere that is QUALITY and had that happy medium of not paying luxe prices- but also not Forever 21.

I suggested we check out Madewell because some of my favorite jeans are from there. Cynthia had never heard of them before and I was like, “Breezy… have you been living under a rock?!”

***AND THIS IS NOT SPONSORED. But we wish it was… lol. We really like this brand! Madewell doesn’t even know we exist lol… YET. (There are affiliate links though-We like to keep it honest!)

So we each got a pair of jeans and a tee from them, and HOLY COW we’ve been wearing living in them! Tee? So comfy. So flattering. Jeans? They make your butt look good AND they are soooo soft. These are the type of jeans that keep its shape after washing.

On a side note: we want to encourage y’all (and ourselves) to spend a litttttle more on future basics for another reason: Landfills. There is so much clothing waste it’s scary. If we purchase more consciously, our items will last longer… look BETTER… and we will waste less. A simple goal to keep in mind!

If y’all only knew how hard it was to get her to try maroon jeans. True story: we bought our tees, walked OUT of the mall, and after 20 minutes of talking her ear off- I finally got her to GO BACK and try on these jeans.

Now she wears them alllll the time! They are “Sateen style” which pretty much means they are comfy AF.